


Waking Hope

by Omorka



Category: Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension (1984)
Genre: M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-20
Updated: 2010-07-20
Packaged: 2017-10-10 16:54:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/101971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Omorka/pseuds/Omorka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two years after the Yoyodyne Incident, Buckaroo experiments with a piece of Lectroid technology.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waking Hope

It was a piece of Lectroid technology, one that had been forbidden under Whorfin's rule and forgotten under Emdall's administration. It had taken yet another perilous trip into the Eighth Dimension to retrieve it, and the technical expertise of the entire Institute to return it to working condition. Buckaroo and New Jersey had been up until the wee hours for a fortnight, now, tweaking every dial and tuning every connection until it was calibrated for human use instead of Lectroid biology.

It was ready, now. At least, the still, small voice of intuition told Buckaroo that it was ready, and it had never led him wrong. As the cryogenically-preserved body slid into the chamber with a low hum, Banzai wondered briefly if he should go wake up Sydney from his exhausted nap in the next room.

No, better to let him sleep. If this didn't work, it would spare him the crushing memory of failure, and if it did work, the subject wouldn't have to process a less-than-familiar face. Buckaroo traced the flat line on the screen with one finger, then reached over and yanked the big knife switch.

Unlike Dr. Frankenstein's unholy creation, there was no thunder, no mad crackle of lightning. The machine let out a low hum that climbed in pitch until it stung his ears, but no other sound. A blinking light changed from blue to violet.

The screen leaped to life, the single flat line dividing into half a dozen indicators, all tracing oscillations across the screen.

Buckaroo waited, one minute, two, five. Anticipation got the better of him; he edged around the side and opened the latch on the cylindrical chamber.

The figure inside stretched, yawned, and sat up. "Well," he rumbled in a voice that hadn't ben used in two years, "that was different."

Buckaroo leaned over the edge of the chamber. "Hey, Rawhide. We missed you."

"Did you, now." Rawhide rubbed at the bristle of his chin. "How long?"

"Twenty-three months, give or take a few days." Banzai's face split into a brilliant smile. "It's good to see you."

Rawhide glanced around. "So, am I the test case? See if it worked on me, before trying it on Peggy?"

Buckaroo shook his head once, slowly. "We . . . still don't have her body back. And while this baby might well work on cyanide with a little more work, at the moment it's only tuned to the venoms native to the biology of Planet Ten."

The broad-shouldered man in the capsule considered this. "You went to all this trouble for me?"

"The band doesn't sound the same without you," Buckaroo said simply.

Rawhide seemed to accept that as an explanation. "Any reason I'm buck naked in here?" he asked, switching gears.

"We didn't want to risk molecular cell damage due to moisture-wicking from cloth-to-skin contact during the emergence from cryostasis," Buckaroo explained. "We also weren't completely sure that the clothes you were wearing at the time were free of Lectroid contamination."

"Seems sensible enough," Rawhide agreed - then waited, as if he knew there were something else.

Buckaroo allowed himself a single chuckle, and added, "Not that there's any hardship in seeing your mighty thighs working again."

"You and that 'mighty thighs' business," laughed Rawhide, reaching for the edges of the cylinder. "What was it you said the first time? 'Hewn from the stalwart oak?' "

"I don't remember the stalwart oak part," admitted Banzai as he offered one hand, "but I think there was an ox metaphor in there somewhere."

"Yeah, that too," Rawhide grinned, finding his footing. "Hey, if the doctor says it's no good I'll take it, but I seem to recall I haven't gotten laid in almost two years, now."

"I think," Banzai said, reaching for his own tie and loosening it, "we could manage to test a few basic biological systems, before letting the rest of the team know we've been successful."

The cowboy's thick fingers found the buttons of his leader's shirt and began tugging them open. "You know oxen are usually -"

"Usually. Not always." Banzai undid his cuffs and shrugged off the lavender fabric. "And you have to have known I didn't mean it that way." The leather of his belt shushed through the buckle as he kicked off his shoes.

"Couple new scars," Rawhide noted as he ran one broad hand down Banzai's back. "You guys get in trouble without me?"

"And out again, a few times," Buckaroo said, dropping his silk boxers to the floor. "The Marquis de Lastran turned out to be one of Lo Pep's flunkies, for instance."

"You'll have to tell me that story," Rawhide grinned, his hands trailing downwards. "Sounds pretty interesting."

"Oh, we'll have to catch you up on quite a bit," said his boss, leaning over the still-huming device and offering Rawhide a small tube and a foil packet.

He took it, wondering where Banzai had been hiding them; he hadn't seen his hands go for his pockets. Didn't matter, though. Rawhide flipped the cap and slicked up his hand. "I'm looking forward to hearing everything," he murmured as one finger found its goal.

Banzai closed his eyes and smiled. "Perfect Tommy's missed you," he noted as his thighs tensed and relaxed again.

"He the only one?" Rawhide pressed a kiss behind his boss's ear as he added a second finger.

"You know better than that," Buckaroo whispered, eyes still tightly closed.

Rawhide's beard brushed against Banzai's shoulder as he drew them closer. He reached for the condom. "I gotta say," he chuckled as he rolled the thin latex down his length, "it's really good to be back in the saddle again."


End file.
